Northwest Voices | Letters to the Editor

Welcome to The Seattle Times' online letters to the editor, a sampling of readers' opinions. Join the conversation by commenting on these letters or send your own letter of up to 200 words letters@seattletimes.com.

Controversy over commercial flights at Paine Field

Paine Field, owned and operated by Snohomish County, is in the lower right of this view; Boeing is beyond, in upper left. The issue of adding commercial flights to the airport has been controversial since Paine Field was built in 1936.

Necessary for economic development The Federal Aviation Administration’s ruling that Paine Field must be available to commercial flights is correct, if way later than it should have been [“Cleared for takeoff: airlines at Paine Field,” page one, Dec. 5].

I realize that some neighbors will be inconvenienced, but all should remember that this facility was built in great part with taxpayer dollars — taxes paid from throughout the United States. And those neighbors have benefited greatly from the aircraft industry that was incentivized greatly by Paine Field’s existence.

Paine Field is highly inefficient right now, operating at one-third of its capacity. No investor wants an asset used so badly, including the taxpayers who footed the bill for this one.

I do trust that at least one neighbor, Mukilteo resident Tim “I-get-rich-calling-myself-a- tax-activist” Eyman will join the applause for the FAA and encourage other efforts to ensure proper use of tax dollars. Surely he'll want to do that.

Meanwhile, the region gets a new commercial airport and a more efficient transportation system. Hurrah.